Reader Scuttlebutt: Cigar Bar Coming to 3622 Georgia Ave?

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by Prince Of Petworth April 16, 2013 at 12:30 pm 25 Comments

3622 Georgia Ave, NW

In this morning’s post about Blue Banana closing, a reader mentions hearing a cigar bar could be going in just down the street at 3622 Georgia Ave. If true, think that would be a good addition to the block?

anon in Park View

A new bar would be great… but a CIGAR bar? Blech!!
- jack5
  
  A new cigar bar would be great! Don’t like it? It has no impact to you!
  
  I can’t wait until GA Ave businesses expand. I was driving through Rhode Island Ave NE yesterday and it reminded me of how GA Ave used to be not long ago.
  - anon in Park View
    
    Well, it does have an impact on me insofar as there aren’t that many bars/sit-down restaurants in the neighborhood.
    
    And it’s not just a matter of whether it impacts me personally — as long as a new place is going to open up, I’d prefer it to be one with a reasonably wide audience. A cigar bar sounds to me like it will have only a niche audience.
    - jack5
      
      They already banned smoking in all bars to please you and that’s not enough? This is America, land of the free to pay taxes and complain.
      - seventhstreet
        
        Jack, you just may be their only customer…
      - anon in Park View
        
        I wouldn’t care if a cigar bar opened in a place that’s already full of restaurants and bars — say, Dupont (although then it would have to compete with Ozio, if that place still exists), Adams Morgan, or U Street.
        
        I care about a cigar bar opening in Park View because we have only a small number of bars and sit-down restaurants. And it seems like a shame for a new place to open that would serve so few people in the neighborhood.
      - saf
        
        Anon in Park View –
        
        How do you know what appeals to the larger neighborhood? I am always astounded and horrified, to hear people talking about how everything in Petworth needs to cater to young families with children. I don’t know very many of those! If you based what opened here on what I think the neighborhood needs, it would be very different than what I periodically hear on here.
      - anon in Park View
        
        Maybe the proportion of cigar-smokers in Park View and Petworth is much bigger than I’ve imagined… but it just seems like a tiny niche market to me.
        
        I too don’t want to see everything catering to families with children (particularly as I don’t fall into that demographic myself)… but if that *is* a significant portion of the demographic, it wouldn’t be surprising if some businesses wanted to accommodate that market.
      - saf
        
        “if some businesses wanted to accommodate that market.”
        
        Indeed, some.
        
        Read a few of the “What do you think should open in THIS space” posts on here though. Amazing how some folks think EVERY new business should cater to them and only them.
        
        I want a nice mix of businesses, including retail, restaurant, bars, and even offices. I would like at least 1/4 of them to be businesses I am interested in patronizing.
Anonymous

I think it would be great – we need some variety on the Avenue!
- aaron_on_luray
  
  While I agree with you that we need more variety on the ave, a cigar bar is pretty selective as far as the crowd it will cater to. Personally, I’d love to see a neighborhood cafe come in, maybe with some outdoor seating?
  - jack5
    
    We have Mothership, DC Reynolds, and Looking Glass. I’m sure that in a few months, barring major derailment of plans there will be more than enough sit down bars and restaurants. The guy is apparently opening a cigar shop because that’s what he knows how to do.
    
    Petworth has a history of strip clubs and Chinese takeout shops. We’ve already come far. Cigar shops are a sign of progress that will improve the area’s image, they shouldn’t be looked down upon.
    - anon in Park View
      
      Oh? What new places are opening “in a few months” in Park View?
      
      (Blue Banana doesn’t count, as it was already there.)
- aaron_on_luray
  
  While I agree with you that we need more variety on the ave, a cigar bar is pretty selective as far as the crowd it will cater to. Personally, I’d love to see a neighborhood cafe come in, maybe with some outdoor seating? Or how about a sit-down restaurant?
  - anon in Park View
    
    +1.
brother_esau

soooo, the neighborhood needs more variety, just not that particular variety?
ParkViewRican

I like the idea. I’ve been going to Civil Lounge in Friendship Heights since they opened and it is real nice and is consistently packed. I think it wouldn’t hurt to add hookahs as an option for those who want to hang but find cigars too harsh. Bottom line; if they do it, they have to do it right.
jcm

I didn’t realize you could still open new cigar bars in DC. Do you have to get some kind of exception to the smoking laws?

I think a cigar bar there sounds great, though I probably wouldn’t go. Giving up cigarettes sucked, and I’m not willing to tempt fate with more nicotine.
- jack5
  
  I think I read that you can do it if more than 75% of your revenue is derived from tobacco sales…
seventhstreet

UGH. The only thing worse than a sports bar called the Blue Banana (I never even opened the door) would be a cigar bar. A business that caters to a tiny portion of the population might make it in Adams Morgan, but not here. Most of my neighbors seem to be couples and families…does anyone smoke anymore? No one I know…
- Farnsworth
  
  Have you been to the patios at the bars right across the street?
- jack5
  
  Alll this protest over a cigar bar, yet we have the world’s most infamous strip club just a few doors down from it. Amazing…
  - anon in Park View
    
    The strip club is 1) already there, and 2) not the subject of today’s PoP posting.
    
    If we were to start a thread on it, I’m sure there would be lots of complaining. :)
    
    I think the thinking of many people is: We recognize that a lot of storefronts on Georgia Avenue are either vacant or not of interest to us. Therefore, when a new place opens up, we hope that it _will_ be of interest to us, or even if not of interest to us, of interest to many of our neighbors.
    - 16thstheights
      
      True, but folks should also consider that even if a place isn’t of interest to them or their neighbors, specialty stores attract visitors from other parts of town. That builds a bigger audience for neighborhood businesses, which makes the area more attractive to investors, so there is some benefit.
16thstheights

Bring it on. I myself am not really a cigar smoker, but think it’s cool to have more eclectic businesses in the area that aren’t strip clubs and liquor stores. And my brother likes a good cigar now and then, I’d be excited to take him here and then wander down the street to chez billy or dc reynolds or looking glass…

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